[AISWorld] Call for participation: Learning Analytics Summer Institute 2013

[Dragan Gasevic]

Learning Analytics Summer Institute 2013 (LASI-13)

*Stanford University, July 1-5, 2013*
*http://www.solaresearch.org/events/lasi*
*twitter: #lasi13 <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23lasi13&src=hash>*
*Introduction*

*Learning Analytics* as both a research topic and emerging marketplace has
recently garnered the attention of faculty, educational researchers and
administrators, policy makers, data scientists and learning technology
entrepreneurs. Unprecedented quantity of, and access to, learner-generated
data has opened up new opportunities, for instance, for researchers to
better understand how learners learn, for educators to assess the impact of
teaching activities and interventions, and for learners to receive
personalized, real-time, automated support for their learning advancements.

Learning Analytics (LA) as a field is related to disciplines such as
educational data mining, machine learning, various branches of psychology,
learning sciences, psychometrics, and systems theory.  LA aspires to
integrate cognitive, social, pedagogical, technical, and organizational
components to advance a holistic view of learners and the cognitive,
social, organizational contributions to their learning processes.
Cross-disciplinary research, publications, and specific documented
socio-technical systems and their associated designs and algorithms are
important for advancing these goals.

For the past three years, the Society for Learning Analytics Research has
hosted open online courses, the international LAK conference and national
meetups, initiated a distributed research lab for PhD students, and
established the Journal of Learning Analytics. During this timeframe,
researchers from learning sciences, computer supported collaborative
learning, and related disciplines have found research affinity with the
emerging LA field.

Leading international universities have initiated programs and enacted
strategies to use LA to improve learner success and improve organizational
effeciency. Numerous schools have adopted personalization and adaptive
learning systems to support learners. Corporations and startups have also
turned their focus to learning analytics, resulting in numerous entrants
into the LA field to promote increased learner success and more efficient
learning practices.

This bricolage of research, intersecting fields of study, and corporate
activity has created an exciting, albeit sometimes confusing, landscape for
academics, PhD students, and the diverse users of LA products and projects.
*Summer Institute*

A critical window of opportunity is opening as we stand on the threshold of
what may be a new discipline with disruptive potential for educational
research and practice. Bringing the right mix of people together for an
intensive ‘summer camp’ could serve as an intellectual and social
springboard to accelerate the maturation of the discipline — as was the
case for other young disciplines, such as cognitive neuroscience.

The *Learning Analytics Summer Institut*e* (LASI)* is a strategic five-day
event, July 1-5, 2013, co-organized by SoLAR and Stanford University.
The International
Educational Data Mining Society <http://www.educationaldatamining.org/> is
also assisting with event organization.

The objective is that participants will leave better equipped to actively
engage in advancing the LA field through their teaching and research
activities. Specifically, LASI has two goals:

   1. *Build the field of Learning Analytics* through cross disciplinary
   interactions, identification of research and teaching needs, advancement of
   LA methods, and connecting isolated researchers.


   1. *Develop the skills and knowledge* of doctoral students and
   academics, equipping them to engage actively in LA research and teaching.

Selection of participants will balance disciplines, skillsets and seniority
— see the application criteria for details.
*Format*

The Summer Institute’s goals of (1) building the LA field and (2)
developing the skills of researchers, educators and students will be
achieved through a combination of lectures, hands-on tutorials, group work
and ample opportunity for informal interactions. Expected activities
include presentations from notable researchers, innovative startups, and
experts from related fields, coupled with research discussions, workshops
and a doctoral consortium track will attend to supporting PhD candidates…
all designed to define the needs of the LA field, identify research gaps
and needs, and establish a research agenda.
*Virtual / Regional / Local LASI*

This is a week with a potentially global footprint, our hope being that
Stanford will be just one node in a network of events. Lectures from
Stanford will be live-streamed, enabling not just remote attendance, but
regional Institutes and local events running in parallel. Currently there
are events planned in Europe and Latin America, with others under
consideration. Combine remote viewing of Stanford sessions with your own
keynotes, agenda-setting workshops, hands-on tutorials and debates —
whatever meets the needs of your context, with you feeding back to the
network what’s unfolding in your part of the world. We anticipate these may
cover the whole range from 100% online, to 50/50 blended, to 100% f-f. They
may scale from nations/regions/states, to a small group in your institution
translating the big ideas into practical implications. So think glocal, and
think about the mix that will work for you and your community. [learn
more<http://www.solaresearch.org/events/lasi/lasi-local/>
...]
*Institute Leads*

Ryan S.J.d. Baker, Columbia University, Teachers College, USA
John Behrens, Pearson Education, USA
Simon Buckingham Shum, The Open University, UK
Shane Dawson, University of South Australia, AUS
Dragan Gasevic, Athabasca University, CA
Caroline Haythornthwaite, University of British Columbia, USA
Ken Koedinger, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Grace Lynch, Open Universities Australia, AUS
Taylor Martin, Utah State University, USA
Roy Pea, Stanford University, USA
George Siemens, Athabasca University, CA
*Timeline*

Applications due: 17:00 PST, January 30, 2013
Notification: March 30, 2013
Summer Institute: July 1-5, 2013
*Enquiries*

Enquiries about *participating in, or sponsoring*, LASI may be emailed to
George Siemens <gsiemens atsign gmail.com> with the subject line
containing: *LASI Enquiry*

If you are interested in connecting with the others *running a
regional/local event*, please contact Simon Buckingham Shum
<s.buckingham.shum atsign gmail.com> with the subject line containing:*LASI
Local*

Speakers at Stanford are by invitation, with the program now being
designed. Queries around the*program* should go to Dragan Gasevic
<dragan.gasevic atsign gmail.com> with the subject line containing: *LASI
Program*. Regional/local satellite events will design their own schedules
and programs.
*How to apply*
*The applications are only accepted through the EasyChair site of the
summer institute. Instructions how to apply are provided at
http://www.solaresearch.org/events/lasi/*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aisnet.org/pipermail/aisworld_lists.aisnet.org/attachments/20130112/f96ee93e/attachment.html>